ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A woman was shot at a gas station in broad daylight Monday afternoon when she refused to give a stranger $20.

The man accused of the crime was in court today, and the woman he is accused of shooting is still in shock.

"He could have killed me, frankly. I didn't realize I was in that much danger," the shooting victim said.

Carol, who didn't want her last name used for this report, stopped to pump gas and pick up a soda at a northeastern Albuquerque gas station, when out of nowhere a man walked up to her and asked for $20.

"I told him I had just given my money to the clerk in the store, so I didn't have any money and he said, 'What if I shoot you?'" Carol said. "I really didn't believe him until he pulled a gun out of his pocket."

Carol says her main concern was keeping the man away from her child, who was inside the car.

"I asked him if he was going to shoot me for $20, and then he was, I guess, trying to negotiate with me. Then he asked me if he could … well he said … 'How about $10?" Carol said.

Carol told the gunman, 28-year-old Frank Madrid, that again, she didn't have any cash. She says he shrugged and started to walk away.

But, the story doesn't end there.

"He turned his head over his back behind him and pointed the gun at me and shot me in the leg," Carol said.

She said Madrid took off, while she went inside the station, where the clerk helped her.

While Carol is not thrilled about being shot in the leg, she is grateful the bullet didn't hit a gas pump.

"That's what scared me the most later. I was realizing that I could have died, my son could have died, it could have been a huge explosion, and the whole gas station could have blown up," Carol said.

Carol says there were witnesses around pumping gas when this situation happened, yet no one helped. However, a 100-pound female clerk went running after Madrid.

Police quickly apprehended Madrid.

Albuquerque police advised that if someone asks you for money, don't give it to them; you are not only putting yourself at risk, but more than likely the person asking for money is breaking the law.

"If they're in the median in the street, it is illegal. If they're on the side of the road, they have to have a license from the city to do that and none of them really do. And if they step out into traffic to get money that is against the law," Albuquerque Police Chief Capt. Paul Chavez said.

Police also recommend that people not hand out cash because it is often used for drugs or alcohol. Instead, they advise walking away. If you are really interested in helping, police said, refer them to a homeless shelter.